Sean “Diddy” Combs Files $50M Defamation Lawsuit against Grand Jury Witness

Sean "Diddy" Combs has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against accuser Courtney Burgess, his attorney Ariel Mitchell, and Nextstar Media Group, the parent company of television network NewsNation.

Combs' attorneys filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, alleging the defendants deliberately fabricated and amplified false claims about him for financial gain, and that NewsNation broadcasted the allegations without conducting proper due diligence. 

The complaint says those actions have caused Combs economic and reputational harm, as well as tainted his right to a fair trial with an impartial jury.

Combs, 55, is currently in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center awaiting trial for sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. He has denied the allegations.

The lawsuit first alleges Burgess claimed he had videos of Combs "involved in the sexual assault of celebrities and minors." Burgess and Mitchell allegedly repeated the allegations to several news outlets, including NewsNation, the filing states.

Combs' attorneys claim because the alleged tapes don't exist, Mitchell and Burgess' statements that they possessed footage "were either knowingly blatant falsehoods or recklessly false statements."

Burgess also allegedly claimed that Kim Porter, Combs' ex and mother of four of his children who died in 2018, gave him a copy of her memoir as well as videos that show Combs "sexually assaulting inebriated celebrities and minors." 

Combs' attorneys insist that Burgess and Combs have never met, and Burgess does not have any association with Combs' family.

Combs' lawyer Erica Wolff previously told PEOPLE that the memoir is "fake," "offensive," and "a shameless attempt to profit from tragedy." Combs and Porter's four children also shut down claims of the memoir before it was removed from Amazon.

Combs also named Mitchell in the lawsuit, noting that the lawyer filed multiple lawsuits against him, including one on behalf of an adult entertainer who alleged she had been sex trafficked by Combs.

"To date, even though Mitchell has not served either of those lawsuits, she has spoken about them extensively to the media," the lawsuit claims.

The court documents reference a NewsNation segment that aired in late September where Mitchell allegedly "falsely stated" that tapes of Combs in compromising positions with other celebrities have been leaked throughout Hollywood.

Mitchell also alleged that people were unknowingly being recorded in Combs' home.

The NewsNation host allegedly told Mitchell in response, "[I]t sounds like there was probably a lot of hidden cameras as well," despite having "no evidentiary support" of Mitchell's allegations.

"NewsNation, upon information and belief, conducted no investigation before broadcasting the false allegations, though it easily could have done so," the lawsuit alleges, adding that the network did not reach out to Combs' representatives for comment before airing the segment.

The filing also alleges that Burgess and Mitchell made similar statements to reporters on the day Combs appeared before a grand jury in his sex crimes case, where they allegedly "continued to repeat false and defamatory claims that Burgess possessed videos depicting Mr. Combs sexually assaulting celebrities, including minors." Burgess served as a witness for the grand jury hearing.

Mitchell also appeared in Peacock's "Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy", where she described Combs as "A man who has done awful things to hundreds, maybe thousands of people," according to the court documents.

The lawsuit goes on to allege that the defendants have each profited from their public allegations against Combs, with Burgess making money "from his fake Kim Porter memoir," and Mitchell "promot[ing] herself in the media" as she makes the allegations against Combs. 

It alleges that NewsNation's airing of Mitchell and Burgess' allegations has increased the number of viewers for the network.

"Defendants made these false and defamatory statements in bad faith, as part of a deliberate effort to damage Mr. Combs's reputation, undermine his business and, by painting him as debauched and a pedophile, to poison the public's perception of him and deprive him of a fair trial," Combs' legal team alleges.

Combs is suing for defamation for an amount to be determined at trial, but no less than $50 million, including punitive damages. He is demanding a jury trial.

“This is just a pathetic ploy to silence victims and people who stand up for victims. Diddy has time to sue but refuses to accept service for the lawsuits already filed against him," Mitchell tells PEOPLE. "I look forward to countersuing and ensuring the court punishes not only Diddy but also his lawyers who filed this pathetic lawsuit for this frivolous and meritless filing.”

“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is taking a stand against the malicious falsehoods that have been fabricated and amplified by individuals seeking to profit at his expense,” said Wolff, Combs’ attorney at Sher Tremonte LLP, said of the new lawsuit. “These defendants have willfully fabricated and disseminated outrageous lies with reckless disregard for the truth. Their falsehoods have poisoned public perception and contaminated the jury pool. This complaint should serve as a warning that such intentional falsehoods, which undermine Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial, will no longer be tolerated.”